Rubicon Project
Rubicon Project gave digital publishers a powerful, independent programmatic platform to maximize revenue from their ad inventory through real-time bidding, header bidding, and private marketplace deals — free from conflicts of interest inherent in buyer-owned platforms.
Last updated May 29, 2026 by the ATDb Editorial Team · Connections updated May 29, 2026
- Industry
- Programmatic Advertising / Supply-Side Platform (SSP)
- Business Model
- Marketplace
- Target Market
- Enterprise
- Employee Count
- 501-1000
- Funding
- $100M+
- Revenue Range
- $150M–$200M (at time of merger)
- Stock Symbol
- RUBI
- Parent Company
- Magnite
- API Available
- Yes
Was one of the largest independent SSPs globally, serving premium publishers and competing directly with Google Ad Manager, Index Exchange, and PubMatic before becoming part of Magnite.
Rubicon Project was founded in 2007 and grew to become one of the largest and most influential independent sell-side platforms in the programmatic advertising ecosystem. The company built technology that enabled digital publishers to automate the selling of their advertising inventory across display, video, mobile, and audio formats, connecting them with thousands of demand-side buyers through real-time bidding and private marketplace deals. At its peak, Rubicon Project processed billions of ad transactions daily and was a foundational player in the shift from manual ad sales to automated, data-driven programmatic trading. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014 under the ticker RUBI, raising significant capital to fuel its expansion and technology development. Rubicon Project was a strong advocate for header bidding technology, which democratized publisher monetization by allowing multiple demand sources to compete simultaneously for inventory. The platform served thousands of premium publishers globally and maintained integrations with virtually every major demand-side platform and ad network, cementing its role as critical infrastructure in the open programmatic ecosystem. On April 1, 2020, Rubicon Project completed a merger of equals with Telaria, a leading CTV and video SSP, to form Magnite — the largest independent sell-side platform in the world. Both the Rubicon Project and Telaria brands were retired as part of the transaction. The technology and infrastructure that Rubicon Project had built became the foundation of Magnite's DV+ product line, covering display, video, audio, and non-CTV inventory. The merger was a strategic response to consolidation pressures in the AdTech industry and the growing dominance of walled gardens, positioning the combined entity to compete at greater scale.
Seller Cloud
Core SSP platform enabling publishers to manage, optimize, and monetize programmatic ad inventory across channels.
Header Bidding Solution
Technology allowing publishers to offer inventory to multiple demand partners simultaneously before calling their ad server, increasing competition and yield.
Private Marketplace (PMP)
Curated deal environment enabling publishers to offer premium inventory to select buyers at negotiated terms via programmatic pipes.
Guaranteed Orders
Programmatic guaranteed product enabling automated execution of direct-sold, reserved inventory deals.
Orders (Automated Guaranteed)
Platform for automating the negotiation and execution of guaranteed advertising deals between publishers and buyers.
Mobile SSP
Specialized supply-side tools for monetizing mobile app and mobile web inventory programmatically.
Video SSP
Programmatic infrastructure for monetizing outstream and instream video inventory across publisher properties.